MOBO AWARDS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

About The Show

Since its inception in 1996, the MOBO Awards has truly become one of Europe’s biggest Music Award ceremonies, and perhaps the most important and influential event for music makers and fans. Celebrating excellence in music for more than 20 years, Sade, Stormzy, Jay Z, Diddy, Tinie Tempah, Skepta, Emeli Sandé, Krept and Konan, Kano, Amy Winehouse, Chip, Janet Jackson and Lauryn Hill are just a few of the names to have graced the MOBO stage.

MOBO continues its rich legacy and ongoing growth as the premiere outlet for recognising and honouring the artistic and technical achievements of exceptional British and international talent in the musical fields of Hip Hop, Grime, RnB/Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Gospel, and African music.

Voting Process

To eligible for a MOBO Award nomination, recordings (Albums, Singles, Mixtapes & EP’s) must be released within the specified eligibility period.

To be eligible, recordings must be for sale commercially via general distribution or made available as a digital recording, either for sale or via a recognised streaming service.

Outlined below is more detailed information on what qualifies as a digital recording and general distribution:

General Distribution: Works must be released via general distribution, defined as the nationwide release of a recording via third-party online retailers, and/or applicable digital streaming services. Applicable streaming services are paid subscription, full catalogue, on-demand streaming/limited download platforms that have existed as such within the United Kingdom for at least one full year as of the eligibility period.

The MOBO team start this part of the process by compiling a list of recordings that were released in the eligibility period. Using information made available by Official Charts Company, record labels, streaming and online platforms, over a period of about 6 months, MOBO meticulously evaluates each one to ensure they are eligible for inclusion in the list of potential nominees. MOBO does not make artistic or technical judgments about the recordings, but merely ensure that each entry is placed in the proper category.

A longlist of eligible nominees are then presented to members of the MOBO Awards Voting Academy via a secure online Voting Academy Website where they will select their top 5 or 10 choices in each category.

The MOBO Awards Voting Academy is the body who help to select the nominees of most of the MOBO Awards categories each year via a secure online system. The Voting Academy is made up of over 100 key professionals drawn from across the UK music industry.

MOBO completed its annual awards review and introduced a number of amendments guiding the 22nd Annual MOBO Awards process, which included establishing an 11-strong expert MOBO Awards Judging Panel – a new voting body, chaired by artist manager and consultant Kwame Kwaten, made up of independent music expert judges who will screen the results from the online MOBO Awards Voting Academy to produce the final list of nominees and, ultimately, the winners for the following MOBO Award categories:

The criteria for being a Voting Academy Member remain the same as ever, however members are only invited by the MOBO team on the basis of their expertise across different aspects of music. For further information, please contact theacademy@mobo.com

For the Nominations Process, MOBO Awards Voting Academy members only. The results from Voting Academy members are then screened by the independent MOBO Awards Judging Panel to produce the final list of nominees.

Once the complete list of nominees is announced at our Nominations Launch, voting opens up to the general public and the MOBO Awards Judging Panel will reconvene to determine the eventual winners for the following categories:

BEST MALE ACT

BEST FEMALE ACT

BEST ALBUM

BEST SONG

BEST VIDEO

In order to preserve the integrity of the voting process, in select award categories — Jazz, Gospel, Reggae, and African — MOBO Award nominations and eventual winners are determined by Specialist Category Committees, comprised of highly specialised Voting Academy Members who are knowledgeable, passionate, and qualified within these fields.

The awards process is constantly evolving to reflect what’s happening in music. Each year, we receive proposals with suggested changes on everything from awards categories to rule revisions. We typically alert the public and Voting Academy members of any category or rule changes in September.

Award process updates for the next MOBO Awards will be reflected here. For further information, please contact theacademy@mobo.com.

For the general public, all attendees aged six-years-old and up need to purchase a ticket to attend the MOBO Awards. Please note, MOBO recommends all children under 18 attend with an adult and all children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

For nominated artists, an Awards department representative will get in touch immediately after nominations are announced to outline the ticket application and accreditation process to gain access to the red carpet and telecast.

VIP packages are the only way to receive exclusive insider access to everything that’s happening around the MOBO Awards. Platinum and Gold Packages include the best seats, excellent networking opportunities, access to after show parties and the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the hottest stars in music and entertainment.

An Awards department representative will work directly with nominees to co-ordinate ticket orders and pick-ups. In order to pick up your artist's tickets, we must have authorisation from the artist himself/herself.

We share the MOBO Awards show rundown—as well as lots of other pertinent information— shortly after our Nominations Launch, which takes place in the lead-up to the awards ceremony. Stay tuned for more information.

If you purchase a MOBO Awards ticket via a third party site e.g. Ticketmaster or Eventim, your ticket will be sent to your selected address or can be collected at the venue box office.

For VIP ticket holders, you can arrange for tickets to be collected at our London headquarters or to be handed to you by an Awards representative at the Awards show venue. Further details regarding access to the after party will be outlined in an email, as well in your ticket package. To find out more information, please contact viptickets@mobo.com.

Other useful information

Performers and guest presenters for the MOBO Awards will be announced leading up to the next MOBO Awards. Follow @MOBOAwards on Twitter and Instagram for up-to-the-minute updates. You can also head to mobo.com.